London Calling

 

Well it’s Wednesday afternoon and I’ve just got my laptop out on my journey back from the Reading game and two things spring to mind. Firstly, in the last international break I talked about Lupoli and how natural a goalscorer he was. Within a minute or two of coming on yesterday he’d shown just that by scoring our third. Then again a couple of weeks ago I launched into Almunia and suggested a return to Spain would be enjoyable for him – well he’s played twice since then and for my money played his best two games in an Arsenal shirt. What’s that they say about swings and roundabouts?

Ok, back to last week. Another thing I said a couple of weeks ago was that my life was far too complicated and I wanted to simplify that which I could. Well, since then I’ve sold an interest in a business I had back home (ie down south!) and I’ve got a buyer for my house back there. The one bad thing about having a buyer for the place is that I now have to clear the garage and loft, much of which has been sitting there since I moved to Newcastle in ’98 and the rest has been kindly ‘donated’ by various friends and tenants. I can get it cleared nearer Christmas but I wanted to have a good root round and see what was there so I got the train down on Thursday to give me Friday clear. Unfortunately other thing intervened and the whole day ended up as a quick half hour mooch and a decision that virtually everything could go to the tip!

I ended up going to a party on Friday so was rather glad that I was getting the tube into London. Another problemless journey and I was at Highbury by 1. Dr Dom was using my brothers ticket and we thought he was bringing his daughter so I was going to swap tickets with him so he could sit with her but in the end he brought his brother-in-law Alistair (who is currently working in Manchester and is living in a flat where he can see City’s old and new grounds) which meant I didn’t have to decamp to the East Upper. Quite fortunate really because it was a miserable day and his seat is far more exposed than mine.

Blackburn were (rightfully) slaughtered in the press earlier this season for their on pitch behaviour and now they can’t kick people up in the air every thirty seconds they are a poor but game side and provided just the right kind of opposition for a dreary winter day. Fab stroked the ball home for his goal with the kind of aplomb befitting such a special talent and Henry scored a goal that he must have scored dozens of times before, except as you probably know it was his 100th goal at Highbury. One (press) criticism of Henry is that he doesn’t show in big games or away from Highbury but if only 100 of his goals have come at Highbury then nearly as many have come away from home.

Robbie Savage. Oh dear. Apparently he’s going to be out for three weeks with a dislocated fringe. Joking apart I think he’s a more useful player than some people make out but like everyone else I can’t stand players that are willing to dish it out but feign injury when someone’s upset with them. He was totally out of order telling Fabregas to get up. It wasn’t a foul (a damn good tackle actually) but the tackle took him through Fab and Savage reacted like an absolute buffoon.

So we were strolling to a comfortable 2-0 win, and then came CageBoy. I still think he’s better used as a sub than a starter at the moment but he’s certainly doing his best to prove me wrong. His goal was absolutely outrageous in a way that few players can be. When he got the ball on the wing it looked the best he could get, with three defenders around him, would be a corner. When he beat them there were three Arsenal shirts bearing down on the edge of the box screaming for the ball to be squared. Seemed obvious that the pass was the only option because he didn’t have an angle to shoot from. Absolutely no way he could beat the keeper from there. Nearly impossible – but not for CageBoy in the mood he’s in at the moment.

We all know van Persie had a bad reputation in Holland and got himself into a few scrapes with authority. We all know how many people said it was a massive gamble (even at less than £3m) because he was a ‘problem player’. But I guess what Wenger saw was a massively talented player that he might be able to ‘tame’. It really doesn’t look like much of a gamble now – I mean how much do you think we’d get for him if we wanted to sell him now?

I was getting the train straight back after the game and was slightly anxious when I got there that there were police everywhere, about half a dozen with dogs. It’s (almost) funny but with the terrorism London has suffered I’d been on the train for an hour before I realised that what I’d seen was totally (and unfortunately) normal for a Saturday evening at Kings Cross during the football season. The train was delayed for about an hour but (thanks to Jazz picking me up from the station) I was home just in time for Arsenal’s game to be shown on MotD. Literally switched on the television and they cut to Highbury. And she fixed me a drink. Nice.

On to the League Cup and as these games get less publicity (and my journey was boringly simple) I thought I’d indulge myself and give you my thoughts on the players involved. But first one little thing about the game. In my time I’ve seen games from every part of Highbury except for the West Upper so with the tickets being obtainable and £20 we went up there for the game. That’s it – I’ve got a full set now!

And the game. Well captain Almunia played a blinder for a start. Reading came to Highbury on the back of a 23 game unbeaten run and are no mugs. Although we outclassed them they had good chances and Almunia did very well. Two good performances are not enough for me to change my opinions of him, but a few more like that just might.

Eboue (right) and Kerrea Gilbert (left) were the full backs. They both displayed incredible naivety once or twice but generally defended well. As you’d expect of Arsenal full backs they supported the attack well and were both willing to play football. I’d say neither produced a performance to threaten the first team, but both did enough to justify another run out in the next round.

Senderos was superb in the middle. When you see him taking control of a younger team everything you hear about him as a future captain makes sense. Alongside him was Johan Djorou, who although hesitant on a couple of occasions looked pretty strong. Talking of strong young (even for this team!) players Fabrice Muamba is immense. At first I thought he looked like a bit of a lump lumbering around but after watching him for a while you can see how unfair an assessment that is. He’s a brick wall.

Alongside Muamba was Flamini who exhibited his version of perpetual motion again. I’d have liked to see him impose himself more on the game but he didn’t do much wrong and was always available for the other players. On the right of midfield was a player I’ve liked for a while called Seb Larsson. Every time I’ve seen him he’s produced a consistent level of performance (in various positions) without ever really imposing himself that little bit more. He seems to have been around Highbury for ages and if he can push on that little bit more he could be a valuable member of the first team squad.

Up front were Quincy, Reyes and CageBoy. I was extremely impressed by the amount of grafting that the two old men of the (outfield) team did up front. I think to an extent our ability to penetrate suffered because of it but they were always ready to go deep to help out. I was incredibly pleased for Jose getting his goal, but for me his part in the second was a better bit of football. I saw replays on tv later but they don’t show just how hard the lay off to van Persie was. The ball played in to him was actually behind him and it was a fantastic bit of balance that spun him round to get the touch back, and at the same time take the defender out of the game. Superb.

Quincy started very well but I do think he faded badly. His main problem is that he’s so outrageously talented that sometimes he really seems to find it hard to keep it simple. He’s still too much of an individual, but when he links up with the team he can destroy anyone.

Amongst the subs the stand out was obviously Arturo Lupoli. First chance he sniffs out and bang – goal. He’s scoring about 30 goals a game for the reserves (well maybe not quite, but he’s better than a goal a game) and the way he slotted seemed completely natural to him. His strike partner for the reserves Nicklas Bendtner (I’m with Arsene in that I don’t care about a players passport but the odd John Smith would be nice because I keep having to check these kids’ names to make sure I’ve spelt them right!) has a similar scoring record and although he didn’t get a chance to score when he came on he looked sharp, and big. He was brushing defenders off in the way Kevin Campbell once did and to be honest he and the smaller Lupoli are the classic English forward pairing.

The other sub to come on was Pascal. His head looks shinier from the West Upper than it does from the North Upper.

So another 3-0 for our kids. Not only are Reading no mugs bit their (ex) unbeaten run gave them the confidence to come and give it a go. It certainly wasn’t an easy game, but our kids made it look easy.

One other thing about the game. RedAction are a group of fans that liase with the clubs on different ways of improving the atmosphere at games. Now if I’m honest with you then some of the things they come up with are a bit pony but to be fair if you’re going to undertake something like this you never really know what will or won’t work until you try it. And regardless of what I think of any particular initiative any fans willing to make the effort to come up with ideas (and actually implement them) deserves everyone’s support. Anyway, for this game they had arranged a 500-seat section in the middle of the North Lower as a ‘singing section’. When booking your tickets you had to ask for that section specifically if you wanted it. So they’re all down there (and they all had red and white scarves so they stood out) and they looked and sounded pretty good. If anything the section should be bigger if we’re drawn at home again.

OK, so I’m home now and just sending this but I thought I’d mention that the massive Newcastle United with their millions of fans are on tv advertising tickets (at all levels) for the match this weekend. Sad.

Come On You Red(currant)s!